There is lots of talk about loving your neighbor going around. There are a lot of thoughts about loving your enemy. There are questions about how we can love members of ISIS, megachurch pastors and even that relative you secretly dread spending time with.
So I got to thinking, is there anything to be learned in scripture about loving well or what loving someone actually, practically looks like? One famous passage immediately springs to mind, 1 Corinthians 13. You may have heard it before. It goes something like this:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails.
If we assume this to be true and an accurate depiction of love, what does that say about who God is seeing as the scriptures tell us that God is love? Let’s sub in God for the word love in the 1 Cor. passage and see what we get:
God is patient, God is kind. God does not envy, God does not boast, God is not proud. God does not dishonor others, God is not self-seeking, God is not easily angered, God keeps no record of wrongs. God does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. God always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
God’s love never fails.
That phrase “is not self-seeking” is also translated “does not insist on its own way”. Can you imagine? God does not insist on his own way. BOOM. WOW. INSANITY. I don’t know about you but that was a revelation to me this week.
What about us? How does that help us? Does this have direct application that helps us love the specific people mentioned earlier? Let’s see. I’ll try it with myself. (I don’t know about you but this is actually one I have done before).
Michelle is patient, Michelle is kind. Michelle does not envy, Michelle does not boast, Michelle is not proud. Michelle does not dishonor others, Michelle is not self-seeking, Michelle is not easily angered, Michelle keeps no record of wrongs. Michelle does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Michelle always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Michelle’s love never fails.
If you want you can take it a step further by inserting the person(s) you aren’t sure if you’re loving. Can I confidently say:
Michelle is patient, Michelle is kind toward her enemies. Michelle does not envy her neighbor, Michelle does not boast to her frustrating family member, Michelle is not proud when someone offers advice. Michelle does not dishonor he enemies, Michelle is not self-seeking, Michelle is not easily angered with her children or spouse, Michelle keeps no record of wrongs. Michelle does not delight in the megachurch pastor’s wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth that allows healing to begin. Michelle always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Michelle’s love never fails?
Honestly, sometimes I can say those things and sometimes I can’t.
However, I can confidently say, this is the kind of love I aspire to. This is the kind of person I want to be. And for real, wouldn’t the world be a better place if we were all these kind of people?
In the end, what’s love got to do with it? Absolutely everything.
word of a woman 
Great post. Aspiring and working toward that kind of love is all we really can do.
This is timely because I read a passage in church yesterday that I don’t ever remember coming across before (and I’ve done years and years of Bible study). It was from Paul’s letter to the Romans and basically said, “Don’t worry about keeping the Commandments. If you love your neighbor as yourself, then you’ll be doing what the Commandments ask.”
So instead of 10 Commandments, I just have to worry about one, though it’s a pretty big one.
Well, duck, you are created in the image of God.
Reblogged this on Walkingtomydreams13.